The use of wireless networks has become prevalent throughout the modern workplace. For example, retail stores and warehouses may use a wireless local area network (LAN) to track inventory and replenish stock and office environments may use a wireless LAN to share computer peripherals. A wireless LAN offers several advantages over regular LANs. For example, users are not confined to locations previously wired for network access, wireless work stations are relatively easy to link with an existing LAN without the expense of additional cabling or technical support; and wireless LANs provide excellent alternatives for mobile or temporary working environments.
In general there are two types of wireless LANs, independent and infrastructure wireless LANs. The independent, or peer-to-peer, wireless LAN is the simplest configuration and connects a set of personal computers with wireless adapters. Any time two or more wireless adapters are within range of each other, they can set up an independent network. In infrastructure wireless LANs, multiple base stations link the wireless LAN to the wired network and allow users to efficiently share network resources. The base stations not only provide communication with the wired network, but also mediate wireless network traffic in the immediate neighborhood. Both of these network types are discussed extensively in the IEEE 802.11 standard for wireless LANs.
In the majority of applications, wireless LANs are of the infrastructure type. That is, the wireless LAN typically includes a number of fixed base stations, also known as access points, interconnected by a cable medium to form a hardwired network. The hardwired network is often referred to as a system backbone and may include many distinct types of nodes, such as, host computers, mass storage media, and communications ports. Also included in the typical wireless LAN are intermediate base stations which are not directly connected to the hardwired network.
These intermediate base stations, often referred to as wireless base stations, increase the area within which base stations connected to the hardwired network can communicate with mobile terminals. Associated with each base station is a geographical cell. A cell is a geographic area in which a base station has sufficient signal strength to transmit data to and receive data from a mobile terminal with an acceptable error rate. Unless otherwise indicated, the term base station, will hereinafter refer to both base stations hardwired to the network and wireless base stations. Typically, the base station connects to the wired network from a fixed location using standard Ethernet cable, although in some case the base station may function as a repeater and have no direct link to the cable medium. Minimally, the base station receives, buffers, and transmits data between the wireless local area network (WLAN) and the wired network infrastructure. A single base station can support a small group of users and can function within a predetermined range.
In general, end users access the wireless LAN through wireless LAN adapters, which are implemented as PC cards in notebook computers, ISA or PCI cards in desktop computers, or fully integrated devices within hand-held computers. Wireless LAN adapters provide an interface between the client network operating system and the airwaves. The nature of the wireless connection is transparent to the network operating system.
In general operation, when a mobile terminal is powered up, it “associates” with a base station through which the mobile terminal can maintain wireless communication with the network. In order to associate, the mobile terminal must be within the cell range of the base station and the base station must likewise be situated within the effective range of the mobile terminal. Upon association, the mobile unit is effectively linked to the entire LAN via the base station. As the location of the mobile terminal changes, the base station with which the mobile terminal was originally associated may fall outside the range of the mobile terminal. Therefore, the mobile terminal may “de-associate” with the base station it was originally associated to and associate with another base station which is within its communication range. Accordingly, wireless LAN topologies must allow the cells for a given base station to overlap geographically with cells from other base stations to allow seamless transition from one base station to another.
Most wireless LANs, as described above, use spread spectrum technology. Spread spectrum technology is a wideband radio frequency technique developed by the military for use in reliable, secure, mission-critical communication systems. A spread spectrum communication system is one in which the transmitted frequency spectrum or bandwidth is much wider than absolutely necessary. Spread spectrum is designed to trade off bandwidth efficiency for reliability, integrity, and security. That is, more bandwidth is consumed than in the case of narrowband transmission, but the tradeoff produces a signal that is, in effect, louder and thus easier to detect, provided that the receiver knows the parameters of the spread spectrum signal being broadcast. If a receiver is not tuned to the right frequency, a spread spectrum signal looks like background noise.
In practice, there are two types of spread spectrum architectures: frequency hopping (FH) and direct sequence (DS). Both architectures are defined for operation in the 2.4 GHz industrial, scientific, and medical (ISM) frequency band. Each occupies 83 MHz of bandwidth ranging from 2.400 GHz to 2.483 GHz. Wideband frequency modulation is an example of an analog spread spectrum communication system.
In frequency hopping spread spectrum systems the modulation process contains the following two steps: 1) the original message modulates the carrier, thus generating a narrow band signal; 2) the frequency of the carrier is periodically modified (hopped) following a specific spreading code. In frequency hopping spread spectrum systems, the spreading code is a list of frequencies to be used for the carrier signal. The amount of time spent on each hop is known as dwell time. Redundancy is achieved in FHSS systems by the possibility to execute re-transmissions on frequencies (hops) not affected by noise.
Direct sequence is a form of digital spread spectrum. With regard to direct sequence spread spectrum (“DSSS”), the transmission bandwidth required by the baseband modulation of a digital signal is expanded to a wider bandwidth by using a much faster switching rate than used to represent the original bit period. In operation, prior to transmission, each original data bit to be transmitted is converted or coded to a sequence of a “sub bits” often referred to as “chips” (having logic values of zero or one) in accordance with a conversion algorithm. The coding algorithm is usually termed a spreading function. Depending on the spreading function, the original data bit may be converted to a sequence of five, ten, or more chips. The rate of transmission of chips by a transmitter is defined as the “chipping rate.”
As previously stated, a spread spectrum communication system transmits chips at a wider signal bandwidth (broadband signal) and a lower signal amplitude than the corresponding original data would have been transmitted at baseband. At the receiver, a despreading function and a demodulator are employed to convert or decode the transmitted chip code sequence back to the original data on baseband. The receiver, of course, must receive the broadband signal at the transmitter chipping rate.
The coding scheme of a spread spectrum communication system utilizes a pseudo-random binary sequence (“PRSB”). In a DSSS system, coding is achieved by converting each original data bit (zero or one) to a predetermined repetitive pseudo noise (“PN”) code.
A PN code length refers to a length of the coded sequence (the number of chips) for each original data bit. As noted above, the PN code length effects the processing gain. A longer PN code yields a higher processing gain which results in an increased communication range. The PN code chipping rate refers to the rate at which the chips are transmitted by a transmitter system. A receiver system must receive, demodulate and despread the PN coded chip sequence at the chipping rate utilized by the transmitter system. At a higher chipping, the receiver system is allotted a smaller amount of time to receive, demodulate and despread the chip sequence. As the chipping rate increases so to will the error rate. Thus, a higher chipping rate effectively reduces communication range. Conversely, decreasing the chipping rate increases communication range. The spreading of a digital data signal by the PN code effect overall signal strength (or power) of the data be transmitted or received. However, by spreading a signal, the amplitude at any one point typically will be less than the original (non-spread) signal.
It will be appreciated that increasing the PN code length or decreasing the chipping rate to achieve a longer communication range will result in a slower data transmission rate. Correspondingly, decreasing the PN code length or increasing the chipping rate will increase data transmission rate at a price of reducing communication range.
FIG. 1 schematically illustrates a typical transmitter system 100 of a DSSS system. Original data bits 101 are input to the transmitter system 100. The transmitter system includes a modulator 102, a spreading function 104 and a transmit filter 106. The modulator 102 modulates the data using a well known modulation technique, such as binary phase shift keying (“BPSK”), quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK), and complimentary code keying (CCK). In the case of the BPSK modulation technique, the carrier is transmitted in-phase with the oscillations of an oscillator or 180 degrees out-of-phase with the oscillator depending on whether the transmitted bit is a “0” or a “1”. The spreading function 104 converts the modulated original data bits 101 into a PN coded chip sequence, also referred to as spread data. The PN coded chip sequence is transmitted via an antenna so as to represent a transmitted PN coded sequence as shown at 108.
FIG. 1 also illustrates a typical receiver system or assembly, shown generally at 150. The receiver system includes a receive filter 152, a despreading function 154, a bandpass filter 156 and a demodulator 158. The PN coded data 108 is received via an antenna and is filtered by the filter 152. Thereafter, the PN coded data is decoded by a PN code despreading function 1544. The decoded data is then filtered and demodulated by the filter 156 and the demodulator 158 respectively to reconstitute the original data bits 101. In order to receive the transmitted spread data, the receiver system 150 must be tuned to the same predetermined carrier frequency and be set to demodulate a BPSK signal using the same predetermined PN code.
More specifically, to receive a spread spectrum transmission signal, the receiver system must be tuned to the same frequency as the transmitter assembly to receive the data. Furthermore, the receiver assembly must use a demodulation technique which corresponds to the particular modulation techniques used by the transmitter assembly (i.e. same PN code length, same chipping rate, BPSK). Because multiple mobile terminals may communicate with a common base, each device in the cellular network must use the same carrier frequency and modulation technique.
One parameter directly impacted by the practice discussed in the preceding paragraph is “throughput.” Throughput or the rate of a system is defined as the amount of data (per second) carried by a system when it is active. As most communications systems are not able to carry data 100% of the time, an additional parameter, throughput is used to measure system performance. In general, throughput is defined, as the average amount of data (per second) carried by the system and is typically measured in bits per second (“bps”). The average is calculated over long periods of time. Accordingly, the throughput of a system is lower than its rate. When looking for the amount of data carried, the overhead introduced by the communication protocol should also be considered. For example, in an Ethernet network, the rate is 10 Mbps, but the throughput is only 3 Mbps to 4 Mbps.
One advantage of DSSS systems over FHSS systems is that DSSS systems are able to transmit data 100% of the time, having a high throughput. For example, systems operating at 11 Mbps over the air carry about 6.36 Mbps of data. FHSS systems can not transmit 100% of the available time. Some time is always spent before and after hopping from one frequency to another for synchronization purposes. During these periods of time, no data is transmitted. Obviously, for the same rate over the air, a FHSS system will have a lower throughput than an equivalent DSSS system.
Based on the IEEE 802.11 specifications, the maximum number of DSSS systems that can be collocated is three. These three collocated systems provide a brut aggregate throughput of 3×11 Mbps=33 Mbps, or a net aggregate throughput of 3×6.36 Mbps=19.08 Mbps. Because of the rigid allocation of sub-bands to systems, collisions between signals generated by collocated systems do not occur, and therefore the aggregate throughput is a linear function of the number of systems. FHSS technology allows the collocation of much more than 3 systems. However, as the band is allocated in a dynamic way among the collocated systems (they use different hopping sequences which are not synchronized), collisions do occur, lowering the actual throughput. The greater the number of collocated systems (base stations or access points), the greater the number of collisions and the lower the actual throughput. For small quantities of base stations or access points, each additional base station or access point brings in almost all its net throughput; the amount of collisions added to the system is not significant. When the number of base stations or access points reaches 15, the amount of collisions generated by additional access points is so high that in total they lower the aggregate throughput. In view of the foregoing, there are some important advantages in using DSSS. It should be appreciated that the terms “access point,” “base station” and “controller” are used interchangeably herein. Furthermore it should be understood that in a typical WLAN configuration, an access point (e.g., transceiver device) connects to a wired network from a fixed location using a standard Ethernet cable. Typically, the access point receives, buffers, and transmits data between the wireless network (e.g., WLAN) and a wired network. A single access point can support a small group of users and can function within a range of less than one hundred feet to several hundred feet. End users access the WLAN through wireless LAN adapters, which may be implemented as PC cards in notebook computers, ISA or PCI cards in a desktop computer, or fully integrated devices within hand held computers. The WLAN adapters provide an interface between the client network operating system (NOS) and the airwaves (via an antenna).
One drawback to using DSSS, relates to the selection of an operating frequency when a DSSS access point is added to an existing LAN. In this regard, when an access point is added to an existing LAN, an operating frequency for the access point must be selected. This operating frequency is the one which will be used for communications between the newly added DSSS access point and other communication devices in the network (e.g., mobile units and other access points). In accordance with prior art practice, selection of the operating frequency for the newly added DSSS access point is performed manually. More specifically, a user determines which frequency is most suitable by determining and evaluating a variety of communication parameters, and then operating a computer on the network to select an operating frequency for the access point. This manual selection procedure is inefficient and time consuming. Moreover, it often does not result in an optimized configuration, and in fact, may result in serious errors in the frequency selection which impair communications in the existing LAN. With regard to optimized configurations, it should be recognized that multiple access points in an LAN may be operating on the same frequency. Therefore, it is desirable to allocate frequencies to access points in a manner which evenly distributes the number of access points operating on the same frequency. Moreover, in accordance with IEEE 802.11, some of the operating frequencies are “overlapping,” while others are “non-overlapping.” It is preferred that “non-overlapping” frequencies be selected, and the number of access points operating on the same frequencies are evenly distributed. It is also desirable for optimized communications, to evaluate the loads associated with each access point, and its corresponding frequencies. Thus, the operating frequency for the new access point can be selected such that it is not a frequency used by an access point with a high load.